Casket carrying truck



April 22, 1952 Filed March 27, 1950 w. E. BARROTT, JR., ET AL CASKET CARRYING TRUCK Fig.

3v Sheets-Sheet l William E. Barroh; Jr:

William E. Barraf; .Sr. INVENTORS Ap 1952 w. ELBARROTT, JR., El AL 2,593,717

CASKET CARRYING TRUCK Filed March 27,1950 3 SheetsSheet 3 lil gglilglgg William 5. Barrel); Jr.

William 5. Barron; .Si:

' INVENTORS Patented Apr. 22, 1952 rm FFICE 2,593,717 CASKET CARRYING TRUCK William E. Barrott, Jr., and William E. Barrett, Sr., Aurora, Ind.

Application March 27, 1950, Serial No. 152,084

a Claims.

This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in a casket carrier and more specifically pertains to an improved truck body and hoist construction specifically adapted for the efficacious elevating and lowering of caskets or other objects .for storin the same on racks in truck bodies and the like.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved construction of hoist specifically adapted to facilitate the handling of heavy objects such as caskets, and particularly for raising and lowering the same to enable their position upon or their removal from a rack assembly provided in a truck body.

A further important object of the invention is to provide a hoist construction in conformity with the foregoing object, which shall be specifically adapted to coact with a rack assembly in a truck body, whereby the object elevated by the hoist may be readily slid from the latter to the rack and vice versa.

More generally, it is a prime object of the invention to provide a rack and hoist construction for trucks whereby heavy objects may be raised and lowered, stored upon the rack assembly or withdrawn therefrom with a minimum of effort and with a minimum expenditure of labor.

Yet another important object is the provision of a truck construction having an improved rack assembly and hoist construction adapted for more eiie'ctive arrangement in the body of the truck to improve the utilization of the same.

A still further important object of the invention is to provide an improved hoist construction for a truck body which is adapted for mounting at a door in the truck body and having an elevator positioned on opposite sides of the door together with means for operating the two elevators in unison for lifting or lowering an object mounted thereon.

Yet, another important object of the invention is to provide a hoist construction for truck bodies wherein the hoist lifting cable is mounted in the body in animproved manner; wherein a pair of hoist cables are operated in unison on opposite sides of a door in the truck body; and wherein improved means are provided for maintaining the operation of the cables in unison without in any way obstructin the door opening.

And a final important object to be specifically enumerated herein, is to provide an improved construction of supporting rack assembly and object hoist which shall be mounted in a truck body in such a manner as to utilize to the maximum the contents or volume of the body for storage 2 of objects therein, while maintaining the provision of a hoist to facilitate raising and lowering these objects to their proper position on the rack assembly.

These, together with various ancillary features and objects and features of the invention, which will later become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated, by Way of example only, in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a rear elevational view of a truck body having the principles of the present invention incorporated therein;

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the arrangement of Figure 1, taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 2-2 of Figure 1'; T

Figure 3 is a broken horizontal sectional view taken sub'stantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional detail view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 4-4 of Figure 1 and illustrating in particular the construction of one of the conveyor mechanisms forming a, part of the hoist;

Figure 5 is a vertical transverse sectional'view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 5-5 of Figure 4 and showing certain structural details of the conveyor assembly; and

Figure 6 is' a fragmentary vertical sectional detail view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line E--6 of Figure 2 and showing certain structural details of the rack as.- sembly of the invention.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, it will be seen by reference to Figure l that the. invention is illustrated as embodied in a truck of any suitable construction having a body indicated generally by the numeral I ii, the same having an open rear end provided with any suitable door construction, not shown, but which may be of conventional design.

It is to be here understood that although the principles of this invention have been shown "as applied to a truck body specifically adapted for the handling, storage and transportation of cofiin caskets or the like, and this body is specifically designed to permit the most efficient utilization of the entire volume of the body for storing and handling a maximum number of caskets therein, that the invention is likewise applicable to any other truck body and especially one provided with rack assemblies on which relatively heavy objects are adapted to be mounted and transported.

As illustrated in the drawings, the interior of the side walls of the truck body ID, as shown more clearly in Figure 6, are provided with suitable horizontally disposed brackets 12 in the form of angle members, these brackets being adapted to support longitudinaly extending angle strips [4 which are thus supported in parallel spaced relation to the sides of the truck, and extend longitudinally of the same in a horizontal plane. As will be readily understood, these strips are disposed in pairs on opposite sides of the truck, as shown in Figure 1, and these pairs, in turn, are mounted in vertically spaced arrangement to thus provide a rack assembly-consisting of a plurality of rails which are adapted to slidably receive such objects as coflin caskets, shown at 1B, which are adapted to be slid longitudinally of the rails and be supported by a pair of rails,

all in vertical spaced relation as will be apparent from Figure 1.

As above noted, the rails 14 are supported in spaced relation to the side Walls of the truck body, and secured to the side walls in any suitable manner and slightly above each of the rails 14, are longitudinally extending strips l8 of wood or metal or any other suitable material, the same being provided with a suitable cushioning ;member 20 of rubber or the like, which thus prevents rubbing of the casket l6 against the side of the truck body and avoids any danger of marring the finish of the caskets.

In handling such heavy objects as coffin caskets, which frequently weigh 200 to 300 pounds,

it is usually found necessary to employ the services of two or more workmen in order to elevate the casket to the desired level, and then store the same upon the rack assembly or withdraw the caskets therefrom. Owing to the cramped quarters involved, such a procedure is laborious, and

in view of the number of workmen required, is necessarily expensive, as well as liable to cause damage to the finish of the caskets.

In-order to enable the easy handling of the caskets by a single workman and to enable the ready disposition of the caskets at any level of these rack assemblies, including immediately adjacent the roof of the truck body, there is pro- .vided an improved hoist assembly mounted in .the-truck body in a novel manner and coacting specifically with the rack assembly as set forth hereinafter.

As will be apparent from Figure 2, the ends of the rails l4 of the rack assembly terminate within the body of the truck in spaced relation to the open rear end or the door of the truck body. In the space between the open rear end of the truck body and the end of the rails, there is mounted a hoist assembly of a novel construction and disposed in an improved manner in the body of the truck. Obviously, the hoist assembly could take various forms within the scope of this invention,

a pair of vertically disposed channel members 22 constructed of any suitable material, these channel members being disposed in parallel spaced relation against the sides of the truck body. Each channel member may conveniently comprise a flat vertically disposed base 24 having integral or, if desired, separately formed by rigidly attached parallel, vertically side walls 26, the ends of these side walls having aligned vertically disposed inturned flanges 28 whose extremities are spaced from each other to provide a vertically disposed slot or opening therebetween. It is to be understood that the base portion 24 of the channel members 22 is adapted to be rigidly secured in any desired manner to the inner surface of the truck side walls.

At their upper ends, the pair of channel members 22 which form each of the elevator assemblies, have journaled therein and therebetween a horizontally disposed shaft 3D, see Figures 2 and 3, to which is fixedly secured'a pair of pulleys or sprocket Wheels between the side walls 26 of each of the channel members, the peripheries of these wheels extending through the slot between the flanges 28. A second shaft 34 is suitably journaled between transversely disposed frame members 36 which support the body of the truck, this shaft likewise being provided with suitable sprockets 38 and with a hand crank 40 which may be conveniently mounted beyond the truck for convenient access and use.

A sprocket chain 42 is entrained over each of the pulleys 32 and 38 and positioned with one flight of the chain within the channel member 22. and with the other flight thereof being disposed without but parallel to the channel member as will be apparent from Figures 1 and 5.

A pair of guidesare slidably received in the channel members 22 of each of the elevators,

, these guides, as shown in Figure 5 consisting of a substantially T-shaped plate or body portion 44, the stem of this T-shaped plate or body portion extending between the flanges 28, and having the opposite ends of the chain 42 secured thereto, while the cross arms 46 of the T-shaped member are provided with laterally extending axles 48 to which are secured rollers 59, as will be apparent from Figures 4 and 5. The pairs of rollers.50 for each of the slides 44 is thus rollably received between thebase plate 24 and one of the flanges 28 and adjacent one of the side walls 26 of each of the channel members 22, whereby the slides are journaled and retained for easy sliding and rolling movement within the channel members which thus constitute guides for the same.

Welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the vertical faces of the stem portions of the slides 44, is an angle member 52, which is thus disposed in a horizontal position and supported by the pair of slides of an elevator assembly. As will be readily seen from Figure 3, it is contemplated that the angle members 52 shall constitute rails or supports which are adapted to in effect form continuations and extensions of a pair of oppositely disposed rails I4 of the rack assembly.

As will now be readily understood, upon rotation of the shaft 34 by the hand crank 40, the sprocket chains 42 thereof will be rotated about their axles 34 and 30, and over the pulleys thereon, to thus raise or lower the supporting rails 52.

The construction above described is duplicated in the two elevator assemblies, except that but one of the shafts 34 will be provided with a hand crank, the other elevator assembly deriving its motion from a timed connection with the first assembly.

For this purpose, the shafts 30 are provided with pulleys, sprocket wheels or the like 54 upon their outer extremities, and a connecting belt or sprocket chain 56 is entrained over these pulleys to thereby synchronize rotation of the sprocket chains of the two elevator assemblies, and maintain the elevator rails 52 of the two assemblies in the same horizontal plane.

It is to be clearly understood that in place of the sprocket or belt chain connecting the two shafts 30, of the two elevator assemblies, there could be provided any conventional form of driving connection including gearing and the like.

From the foregoing, it will now be seen that a pair of rails 52 will be raised or lowered in unison, so that in the lowered position a casket E6 or other object may be slid and caused to rest upon the rails, whereby the two elevator assemblies may be raised in unison to cause the rails 52 to register with the proper set of rack rails I4, whereupon the casket may be slid from the elevator assembly onto the rack assembly. In this operation of the device, it is evident that no lifting movement of the casket is required in transferring the same between the elevator and rack assembly.

As will be more clearly seen from Figures 3-5, it is preferred to provide a guard or shielding housing 58, in the form of a channel member and adapted for attachment against the base plate 24 of each of the channel assemblies 22 in any desired manner, this guard or shielding housing serving to enclose the vertical flight oi. the sprocket chain :22 which is disposed within the channel member. Thus, that flight of the chain which is disposed within the channel member 22 is retained between the pair of rollers 50 secured to each of the axles 48, and is maintained in a substantially straight vertical line against the base plate 24. This prevents kinking or buckling of the chain, guides the same during its operation, and prevents any possibility of the chain becoming entangled with or interferring with movement of any part of the slides 44.

It may be here observed that the supporting brackets iii, the strips Hi, the rails M, the slides 44 and the rails 52 may be of any desired material, and preferably the same will be made of aluminum, or other material of attractive appearance such as chromium plated, metal or the like.

From the foregoing, it is thought that the construction and operation of the invention. together with as many advantages will be readily apparent and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, but all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the claimed as new is:

1. A truck body and hoist construction comprisinga truck body, a series of verticallyspaced horizontal rack rails mounted on said body, said body having an opening, said rails terminating in spaced relation to said opening, a hoist mounted in said body between said rails and said opening, said hoist including vertically disposed elevators on opposite sides of said openings,

invention, what is 6" horizontal rails on said elevators selectively regi'strable with said rack rails, means interconnect ing said elevators for synchronized movement; operating means for said elevator, each elevator including a pair of vertical channel members secured to said truck body, slides movable vertically in each channel member, said elevator rails being mounted on said slides, means for vertically moving said slides.

2. A truck body and hoist construction comprising a truck body, a series of vertically spaced horizontal rack rails mounted on said body, said body having an opening, said rails terminating in spaced relation to said opening, a hoist mounted in said body between said rails and said opening, said hoist including vertically disposed elevators on opposite sides of said openings, horizontal rails on said elevators selectively registrable with said rack rails, means interconnecting said elevators for synchronized movement, operating means for said elevator, each elevator including a pair of vertical channel members secured to said truck body, slides movable vertically in each channel member, said elevator rails being mounted on said slides, means for vertically moving said slides, said last means comprising upper and lower pulleys, a sprocket chain entrained over said pulleys and secured to said slides.

3. A truck body and hoist construction comprising a truck body, a series of vertically spaced horizontal rack rails mounted on said body, said body having an opening, said rails terminating in spaced relation to said opening, a hoist mounted in said body between said rails and said open- I ing, said hoist including vertically disposed elevators on opposite sides of said openings, horizontal rails on said elevators selectively registrable with said rack rails, means interconnecting said elevators for synchronized movement, operating means for said elevator, each elevator including a pair of vertical channel members secured to said truck body, slides movable vertically in each channel member, said elevator rails being mounted on said slides, means for vertically moving said slides, said slides having rollers received in said channel members.

4. A truck body and hoist construction comprising a truck body, a series of vertically spaced horizontal rack rails mounted on said body, said body having an opening, said rails terminating in spaced relation to said opening, a hoist mounted in said body between said rails and said opening, said hoist including vertically disposed elevators on opposite sides of said openings, horizontal rails on said elevators selectively registrable with said rack rails, means interconnecting said elevators for synchronized movement, operating means for said elevator, each elevator including a pair of vertical channel members secured to said truck body, slides movable vertically in each channel member, said elevator rails being mounted on said slides, means for vertically moving said slides, said last means comprising upper and lower pulleys, a, sprocket chain entrained over said pulleys and secured to said slides, said chain being slidable in said channel member a housing in said channel member inclosing said chain.

5. A truck body and hoist construction comprising a truck body, a series of vertically spaced horizontal rack rails mounted on said body, said body having an opening, said rails terminating in spaced relation to said opening, a hoist mounted in said body between said rails and said opening,,said hoist including vertically disposed elevators on opposite sides of said openings, horizontal railson said elevators selectively registrable with said rack rails, means interconnect: ing said elevators for synchronized movement, operating means for said elevator, each elevator including a pair of vertical channel members secured to said truck body, slides movable vertically in each channel member, said elevator rails being mounted on said slides, means for vertically moving said slides, said last means comprising upper and lower pulleys, a sprocket chain entrained over said pulleys and secured to said slides, said interconnecting means being operatively connected to the upper pulleys of each of said elevators.

, WILLIAM E. BARROTT, JR. WILLIAM E. BARROTT, SR.

. R C I ED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS as. r 

